Monsuno: The 6th Member
by cyang227
Summary: Beyal always rambles on and on about the destiny of 'The Five', right? What if there was a 6th? How would things spin out for Team Coretech? It might turn out to be Chase x Melody.
1. Chapter 1

Monsuno

You know how Beyal always talks about the destiny of 'The Five' ? What if there was a 6th member? How would things lay out for Team Coretech?

Episode 1; Location: STORM HQ

Chase's POV

"Um, anybody else think we're in a tough situation?" I yell to my two life long friends, Bren and Jinja.

We got caught in STORM HQ, the organization my dad, Jeredy Suno, works for. Well, by now, I hope he just_ used_ to work for. I can't imagine him doing anything so evil.

"Chase, we all realized that when we entered the building!" Jinja screams into my ear. I wince and cover them up.

"Yeesh, Jinja. You're so uptight!" I say. My monsuno gives a mighty roar.

My dad left me a monsuno in STORM HQ, and it was held in a containment device apparently called a 'core'. I did what Jon Ace told me to do; I spun it.

Not really helping the situation, in terms of escaping.

STORM Elites start shooting yellow lasers at us, and we back up until we're against the blue and white monsuno giant.

"We have to figure out how to get outta here!" Jinja yells frantically.

"I hate to say this, but Jinja's r… righ… Oh, you know the word! Any bright ideas, Chase?" Bren yelps and hides behind Jinja. She pushes him away.

I forgot to mention, those two have _some_ rivalry going on.

Not a good thing. Definitely _not_ a good thing.

"Well, I-" I spot a person in a black cloak, with a hood covering their face. He's wrestling with another STORM Elite, just outside the doorway. More like _resisting_, judging by the way that Elite is trying to grab his wrist.

"We could help that guy!" I point over to the tussle. Bren and Jinja stare a moment before turning back to the lasers.

"We're about to die, and all you can think about is helping some random guy we don't even know?!" Jinja shouts.

"I think both me and him are thinking about food right now." Despite his cowardly nature, Bren licks his lips and grins.

I sweat drop at the sight of Jinja bonking him on the head.

"Not the time, guys." I cover my face with my arms. Jinja glares at me.

"Says the guy who wants to help someone who might be bad?!"

"Well, Jinja, since the guy's fighting with STORM, I think we can infer that he's good!" Bren pipes up. He cowers from the sight of Jinja staring daggers at him.

I look at the guy in the cloak. His eyes meet mine for a moment. Then he kicks the STORM Elite to the ground and starts running towards us.

I snap my attention back to Jinja and Bren, who are swiveling their heads around, trying to find an exit.

"Guys!" I shout. "You might want to pay more attention to 'the guy we barely know'!"

"Look, Chase, I know you want to help, but-" Jinja is interrupted by a call in the mysterious figure's direction.

"Swiftswim! Launch!" A blue core comes spinning out.

"What? Another Coretech Core?" Bren yelps. I follow the spinning blue cylinder until it hits a wall behind a few of our attackers.

_Clank!_

A giant serpent comes out, flicking it's tongue angrily at the STORM troops.

"Knock 'em out!" The creature's long tail swipes the STORM forces away.

"Make an exit!" I stare as the tail keeps going- and smashes into the wall, cleared of Elites.

My monsuno lifts Bren, Jinja, and I onto its neck and runs out of the hole. I look back to see the guy somehow putting his monsuno back into the core, and scrambling to follow.

"All units! Report to Area D17 immediately! I repeat, all units to Area D17!" Sirens flash red all over the base, and we cover our ears at the blaring noise.

The cloaked figure is running behind us, huffing to keep up. We run into a forest, losing STORM. I glance at the polar bear hybrid.

"Okay, big buddy. You can stop." It screeches to a halt, sending Bren toppling over the side.

"What? Hey!" He says. Jinja laughs and points a finger at Bren, who's covered in dirt. He gets up and starts dusting himself off, muttering something about not getting any respect.

Jinja and I hop off the monsuno's neck. All three of us watch the figure running towards us. Though the cloak he's wearing seems light, the only thing I can see are the guy's white sandals and light blue socks. Interesting.

He stops running a few feet away from us and hunches over, gasping and wheezing. I see Bren's eyebrows furrow with concern, and catch Jinja staring at him. I start to walk over.

"Hey, are you alright? Thanks for helping us with STORM back there." I hold out my hand for a handshake. The guy jerks away from me, and starts running towards the right.

"Wait up! Where are you going?" I shout and follow in pursuit. I can hear the thudding of my monsuno's giant paws behind me, which meant Jinja and Bren must be chasing as well.

I can see a small hand come up to keep the guy's hood in place. Now I'm more curious than ever. I'm about to put in a burst of speed when a hand grabs my shoulder. I look back to see Jinja, with my monsuno right behind, and Bren lagging. Jinja looks at me.

"Just cut it out, Chase. You can't try and make friends wherever you go."

"But Jinja, he helped us get away from STORM! What if-"

"Cut some slack. We have to figure this 'monsuno' thing out first, at least."

I give the figure a troubled glance. He doesn't even look at me as he disappears into the undergrowth.

"Fine. Geez." I turn back to my friends.

Melody's POV

I watch those three friends busying themselves over the monsuno that boy just got. What was his name? Chase, I think.

I steady my breath and collapse at the base of the tree I hid behind after Chase stopped, well, _chasing_ me.

I look back at the STORM HQ and shiver. STORM is a terrifying organization. Saying that they strive for good, but hurting countless people in the process…

People like me.

I return my attention to the group. What they overlooked was the explosives that were inside the base. The forces had been expecting the three, I could tell. Luckily, I disarmed them before anyone was hurt.

But because of that nice deed, I was caught. I can still see the smug look on Commander Trey's face when that Elite brought me to him.

The only thing that came out of that was the green vial I snatched from his belt. I can't believe Trey didn't even realize that I had stolen it, and judging by the way he checked that it was still there every few minutes, I thought I might take it off his hands.

Combine that green vial with a stray Coretech Core I found in Jeredy Suno's lab, and I had my very first monsuno.

From watching STORM command their monsunos, I was surprised that my core turned out blue, tinted with green, my monsuno colored similarly. While those other kids were battling in the lab, I was fighting for my life not too far away.

Eventually, I made a run for it, seeing since Trey already had many forces nearby he could overpower me with.

I ended up being the hero to Chase and his friends after I escaped the Elite I might've _accidentally_ bumped into.

"Okay, Lock, return!" I turn my attention to Chase as his monsuno charges at its core and gets sucked into it in a blue light. The one with the glasses hides behind Chase in the process, and I stifle a giggle.

The girl flicks the boy with the glasses after he steps from behind Chase.

"Chase, why would you call a giant monster a Lock?" He squeaks.

"Well, my dad used to say this thing to me. It was from a poem or something. _'With every dark, a light. With every foe, a friend. With every question, an answer. With every key, a lock'_. " I smile. Chase must love his father a lot to remember something as small in size as that.

I swiftly turn to leave and walk along the forest. I wrap my cloak tighter around myself and look around in caution.

Seeing nobody threatening, well, nobody _at all_, I relax a bit and start to enjoy the peaceful time.

Big mistake.

I'm startled when Commander Trey jumps in front of me, and take a few steps back, almost tripping. He laughs as I steady myself. My blue eyes glare at him through my hood.

"What do you want, Trey?" I mutter, though I know the answer already.

"Well, we can't have a little girl like you spilling all of STORM's secrets, can we? I've had orders from Charlemagne to either bring you in or kill you on the spot for quite some time now. You're very evasive. I think your parents would be proud of that."

I twitch. I hate STORM for the things they do. The things they've done.

"I'm actually thinking of killing you now, due to your recent heroism to a certain group of meddlesome kids. But since you have a monsuno now, I think it would be fun to challenge you. Hmm?"

I don't even stop to think before I answer.

"I'd beat you anytime, anywhere. You're on, Trey."

I see him crack a smile. This might be a big game to him, but for me, this is a life or death matter. Trey backs up, taking his core from his pocket.

"Riccoshot! Launch!"

"Swiftswim, launch!"

Our cores clank together, sending a blue light shining towards my side, and a yellow light on his.

Trey's monsuno looks like a giant beetle. It's jaws make me think of a giant scorpion. I nod at Swiftswim.

"Hit it with your tail!"

"Grab it and swing!"

Riccoshot grabs hold of Swiftswim's tail, and throws it at a tree. Swiftswim pulls its tail out of Riccoshot's grip and knocks it to a side.

"Wrap it up!" I yell. Swiftswim obeys and Riccoshot is caught. I can see Trey planning to launch an attack with those giant jaws, so I command Swiftswim to tie them up.

"Bring it to the ground!" Swiftswim brings Riccoshot slamming into the ground. I expect to see the monsuno return to its core, but after Swiftswim unravels the giant bug, it stands up again.

"Very impressive. Using your monsuno's tail to your advantage slowed me down, as you planned. But in the end, you just don't have the _power_ to defeat me! Riccoshot, final blow!"

Riccoshot head butts Swiftswim in my direction. I leap out of the way, and it lands with a _thud!_ on the grass. It returns to the core in a flash.

I look at the blue tint on the core.

"Sorry. I shouldn't have been so reckless." I whisper to it before I put Swiftswim away. I turn around and start to run.

"Oh no you don't! Riccoshot, pin her down!"

I can feel the monsuno's jaws grab my waist and lift my into the air, and the somewhat speedy bug brings over to Trey. I struggle while Trey smirks confidently.

"I said I was going to kill you, didn't I? One thing you should know, I'm a man of my word!" Riccoshot tosses me towards a tree. I hit it, sending a pain up my back and my shoulders.

"Now I can- Huh?" My eyes widen when I hear a faint rustling in a nearby bush. Commander Trey glares at me and returns Riccoshot to its core.

"You got lucky this time. I can't let anybody _else_ know about STORM…" Trey disappears in the direction of the broken lab. I get up, using the tree for balance, and try to see exactly _who_ comes out of the greenery.

I almost topple over. It happens to be none other than that boy with the glasses. He notices me and jumps.

"H-hey! You're… you're that guy who helped us!" I hear more rustling and the girl comes out, looking worried.

"Bren, what are you doing? We were supposed to be investigating those strange noises…" She sees me and blinks.

"Hey, it's-" She's cut off by Bren.

"Yeah, we know, Jinja. Where's Chase?" Jinja flicks Bren's nose.

"Ow! What was that for?!"

"Don't interrupt me!"

The two start bickering. I watch in confusion, wondering if it's the real deal or not. I quietly start to back away, hoping they won't notice.

Unfortunately, Chase arrives. He takes one look at the scene and shrugs. Seems like it's usual for them to be fighting like this. I can only panic as he strolls over to me and offers a hand.

"I didn't get to say thanks for earlier. I'm Chase." I don't accept his help. Chase keeps his hand outstretched anyway and uses the other to point at Jinja and Bren. They're becoming the slightest bit annoying.

"That's Jinja over there, and Bren. We've been friends forever." He turns back to me. My injuries have started to take their toll. But I still keep my cloak wrapped tightly around me.

"Are you sure you're alright? Say something, at least." I look down, staying silent. I sit and try to concentrate. My vision is getting blurry. I lean against another tree and fight my first instinct to run.

I can faintly see Chase sit down as well, hoping to catch my eye. A few minutes later, Bren and Jinja join us, finally getting along. At least somewhat.

I close my eyes and try to think up a plan to escape from these people. Maybe if they think I'm asleep, they'll let down their guard?

I seem to have fooled them. I hear Bren whisper to Jinja,

"You think he's asleep?" Jinja seems to snort.

"Just be quiet, Bren." All is silent again. I listen closely for any movement. Nothing, really,

except for a gust of wind here and there.

I open my eyes Chase right in front of me, staring. I recoil.

"Ack! What are you doing?!" I shout. I try to get up on my feet, but I'm still weak from my battle. I stare at Chase, who has a confused look on his face.

"So the mystery person speaks. Funny, you sound like a girl." I turn red. Good thing he can't see.

Jinja and Bren crawl over, and Bren is looking at a Core Tablet. I see him scrolling up and down on it, looking for something.

"Hey, I can't seem to find any data about this person. Is he in STORM files?"

I might as well correct him, since they know what I sound like already.

"Of course I'm not in there. How did you get a Core Tablet…?" Jinja looks at me, surprised. Then she smirks.

"Bren fell in love with the thing as soon as he found it in that room Chase opened. And if you're running from STORM, why are you not in the files?"

"Because I'm something only the commanders know about. It's top secret." I explain. Bren is studying me, and Chase just looks plain confused.

"Okay… can I ask you a question?" Chase asks. I shrug.

"Do you know who my father is? He used to work for STORM? We're trying to track him down right now." I grimace thinking about what advantages Chase's dad could have given STORM.

"He goes by the name of Jeredy Suno. Heard of him?" He adds. I think a moment before answering.

"Jeredy Suno… that was his lab back there, wasn't it? The one we escaped?" Chase nods. I think about the files of all the workers STORM keeps; I hacked into them about a month ago. I was only supposed to be looking for info on Commander Trey and Charlemagne, and maybe a thing or two about the whole 'monsuno' drama.

When I searched monsuno, I had to look in Jeredy Suno's file. He rediscovered monsuno and found a way to carry them around in a 'core'.

But that was all I had time to read before I had to escape from a few of those troops.

"Sorry. No idea where he is right now." Chase's shoulders slump.

"Oh, okay. What's your name?" I hastily turn to Bren, who's peering at me closely through his glasses. I get on my feet as fast as I can and run. I've said too much already.

Chase's POV

I jump back as the person in the cloak jumps up and runs. I look at Jinja and Bren, who are watching as well.

"_Now_, Jinja?" I ask. She smirks and turns to me.

"Yeah. _Now_ we can follow him." All three of us leap to our feet and run after the person. Soon enough, we lose track of him in the forest.

"Gah! Where did he go?" Bren asks, clutching his Core Tablet tightly. I turn left and right, searching. Jinja looks back where we came.

"I don't see anything. Maybe we should-" Jinja is interrupted by a yelp from above.

"Ack! Help!" The cloaked figure falls down from the leafy tree behind us, causing Bren to jump.

"What the crag?! He was hiding in a _tree_?!" We stare at the person, who wraps the cloak around himself hastily. But I see the scratches and bruises on his legs anyway.

"Hey! You're hurt! And you have been all this time?" I make my way over and kneel beside him. Bren and Jinja come over and look, too.

"None of your business." The guy mumbles and tries to get up, only to tumble down again.

I glance at Bren and Jinja with a smirk on my face. Then, with a single swift motion, I pull the hood off the figure's head.

I'm shocked to see dark blue hair tied in pigtails. A _girl_?!

She blushes a deep scarlet and puts her hands on top of her head. She looks at me.

"What did you have to do that for?!" The girl asks quietly. I'm suddenly nervous.

"Well, I wanted to know who you were…"

"Wait. So _he_ is actually a _she_?! That is _weird_!" Bren says. Jinja looks ready to punch him. Instead, she growls at Bren and holds a hand out towards the girl. She doesn't accept, as usual.

"It's so nice to see another girl. Bren and Chase get really annoying to be with sometimes." She says sweetly.

"Hey!" Bren and I look at Jinja, who has an innocent face on. I can see the cockiness behind it, though.

"What? You two _are_ annoying. It's no big secret." Jinja shrugs nonchalantly.

The girl watches quietly, listening to Jinja and Bren argue. I catch her eye, and she's clearly asking, _'Do they do this a lot?'_

I just shrug. There's not really any way to stop those two when they're at it- all you can do is wait for the storm to be over.

"So what if I'm annoying? I'm way better at hacking than you!" Bren says, his face flushed. Jinja rolls her eyes.

"As if! You may be a techno geek, but I'm the one who knows what _'es idiota'_ means."

"Oh yeah? What does it?"

"It means 'you're an idiot' in Latin. But try to focus on English first. You've barely got enough words to insult me with."

"Well, while you waste your time learning all those languages, _I've_ been studying technology, something I can actually _use_ someday."

"Did you just say that you're _better_ than me?!"

"Yeah! And now that I have, I'm starting to regret it…" Bren cowers from Jinja's menacing glare. She turns away to look at me. I freeze.

"Chase, which one of us is better? Answer me!" I think awhile and say,

"No comment." Jinja turns to the girl.

"Well, what do you think? Girls are better than boys, right?" The girl closes her eyes and flinches. Jinja seems to realize something and immediately gets off Bren, who's groaning.

"Oh! Sorry, I forgot that you're hurt! We should probably help…"

"You just noticed." Bren sits up, rubbing his head. Jinja sends a glare in his direction, but he's unaffected for once.

"You okay, B?" I ask. He nods reluctantly and stands.

"Yeah. Unless you count the fact that Jinja keeps nailing me to the ground… I'm good!" He says sarcastically. I watch Jinja talk to the blue haired girl.

"Come on! You need some help." Jinja presses. The girl shakes her head.

"Thank you, but I need to get going." She stands up, wobbling. She has to hold on to the tree for balance. Jinja tries to offer a hand, but the girl keeps refusing. Bren and I walk over, and Bren asks a question.

"Wait. Those noises we heard earlier… were you involved in them somehow?"

"I… was having a monsuno battle. With Commander Trey." She mumbles. Bren grabs her arm and starts examining it. I can see dried blood all over it.

"I don't know exactly how a monsuno battle works, but I think the _monsunos_ are the ones who fight, not the people themselves. How did you get beat up so bad?"

She grimaces and pulls her arm away.

"You don't want to know. You _really_ don't want to know."

"Okay. But I want to know what your name is." Everyone turns to me. The girl just looks down, rubbing her arms.

"Just something to call you by, if you don't trust us." I add.

"…" The girl stays silent, thinking. I look at Jinja, who has a 'You shouldn't have been so obvious!' look on her face. Then I look at Bren, who is furiously typing something on his Core Tablet.

"I'm called Melody, if that helps." The girl says. Jinja and I turn to stare.

"What? I just told you my-"

"FOUND IT!" Bren yells. All three of us jump.

"Found what?!" Jinja yells. Bren sweat drops and calms down.

"Uh, I found this 'Melody' person on my Core Tablet." I can see Melody face palm herself while Bren explains.

"Her parents were killed by STORM when she was 7, because they wanted the kid to work for them. It doesn't say for what field, but she actually worked for them for 2 years. I think she even worked with your dad for a while, Chase!" I look at him.

"Really? So she might know where he is?" Jinja flicks my ear. I wince and rub it with my right hand, turning towards her.

"Ow! Jinja, what was that for?"

"You guys are totally overlooking the fact that she was _forced_ to _work_ for _STORM_? Our mortal enemy?"

"Oh, but that isn't the best part!" Bren scrolls down on his Core Tablet.

"When she was 9, she ran away, and she's been evading STORM ever since! But she was captured a lot in ages 9-11."

Melody pulls her hood over her head and sits on one of the tree's roots. I pull the black fabric off her head.

"I believe you when you say you don't know where my dad is." I begin. She raises an eyebrow.

"But I still want to help. We should get to your injuries."

"I'm not moving from this spot." She says stubbornly. Jinja puts her hands on her hips and sighs.

"What's so wrong about accepting help every once in a while? Let's just _go_ already." Suddenly, Bren seems kind of uneasy.

"Uh, guys?" He squeaks. All of us look at him, Jinja looking slightly annoyed.

"I don't mean to sound scared or anything, but look!" He points upward, where a giant yellow glowing light is shining on us.

"Oh crag! It's another monster!" Bren turns around and starts running. Jinja hoists Melody up to her feet, and the three of us follow.

Running away from the giant thing in the sky, we bump into a blockade. Mr. Ace is standing beside the same guy who tried to take Lock from me.

"Uh, Melody, is that 'Commander Trey'?" I ask. Melody sighs.

"Unfortunately, yes. And he's too arrogant for his own good." Trey glares at her.

"Watch your mouth, missy." He turns to me and smirks. I back up a little and glare at him right back.

"We're gonna need that core of yours, kid. If it's the one from Suno's files, then it's vital to our research. And since you've got her, you might as well hand over the girl, too." I grit my teeth.

"No. My dad… he left Lock for me. And you can't just go around hurting people!"

"Look, kid. Your father's company, Core Tech, belongs to STORM. So everything he made belongs to us too. Now hand the monsuno over, now!" Jon Ace grabs Trey's shoulder.

"Trey, you can't attack unarmed kids!" Trey glares at us.

"Oh, they're armed. Troops!" In a flash, our group is surrounded by men. But instead of guns, one has a yellow and black core in his hand.

Trey's face turns from one of ease to slight anger.

"Alright, kid. You asked for it." The trooper takes his core in one hand.

"Crossbolt! Launch!" The core comes spinning out and clanks against a rock. A giant bull-like monsuno with 4 razor sharp tusks appears.

"Chase! Spin out your core!" Jon Ace yells. I glance at him, still not sure if he's on our side or not.

But I spin the core out anyway. "Lock! Launch!"

Lock appears and starts going head to head with Crossbolt. I sneak a peek at Melody, who has a troubled look on her face.

"Melody, what's up?" She pulls out her core and looks at me, lightly smiling.

"This is my fight too. I feel bad about not stepping up sooner." She positions the core in her hand and sends it flying to the same rock Crossbolt launched from.

"Swiftswim! Help Lock!" That giant serpent rises from the blue light emanating from the core. Lock jumps aside, and Swiftswim hits the bull with its tail.

Melody's POV

Suddenly, a round blue hologram with some different colored bars comes up from Lock's core. Chase stares at it in amazement.

"Whoa, what's this?" I look down at my core to see a similar hologram.

"On mine, too. Like you said, what _is_ this?" Bren tries to look over my shoulder at it, but I swipe it away.

Crossbolt takes a blow on Lock, and I notice some of the green bars on his core disappear.

"Could it be that the bars are for how much health they have left?" I sharply inhale and try to think.

A few smaller circles appear from my core. I stare at them, interrupted when Lock rams into Crossbolt with a shining blue light.

Lock pins Crossbolt to the ground, and I notice something in the sky, falling onto him. The same thing that was chasing us earlier was a monsuno!

"Lock, look out!" Chase yells. He looks up, but doesn't react.

"Swiftswim! Cover for Lock!" I shout. Wide eyed, I stare as a giant cannon of water shoots from Swiftswim's mouth, knocking the flying monsuno away.

Chase grins at me.

"Nice shot. So now it's a two on two. Commanders vs. kids." I smirk.

"Hardly seems fair. Want to finish things up?" Lock rams into Crossbolt, and Swiftswim throws the flying monsuno into the air. They ram together, going back into their respective cores.

Unfortunately, our little monsuno fight started a fire in the blockade. I return Swiftswim to its core, seeing the flames nearing it.

Lock comes to us and grabs Chase, Jinja, and Bren. I run alongside it and we rip away from the STORM blockade.

A far enough distance away, Lock releases the kids and I lean against a tree to catch my breath.

"Whoa. Tense." Chase says, coming to sit next to me. I try not to seem bothered by it.

"Well, _you_ didn't have to smell monsuno armpit for the whole ride." Bren grumbles.

"I don't think I'll _ever_ get this out of my mouth." Chase turns to me.

"So, do you trust us now? Because I trust you." I look up at the stars.

"No." I lie. I've taught myself not to trust anyone.

"Well, we're going to help you anyway." Jinja says, pulling me onto my feet.

"Are we really going to do this again?" I groan, covering my face with my arms.

"Yes." She says in a matter of fact tone.

Chase's POV

Together, Jinja and I succeed in dragging Melody out of the forest with Bren following behind, spouting random things he's found on the Core Tablet.

We found a small cave and treated Melody's injuries. It was easy, since she'd fallen asleep from the day's events.

"Well, time to hit the hay. We did a day's work." Bren says, yawning and stretching. I look over at him while he unrolls his sleeping bag. Jinja yawns too.

"Bren, you didn't really do much. But I _am_ getting sleepy. Good night, you two." Jinja curls into her sleeping bag and closes her eyes. I unravel my own bag and get into it.

"Guys, do you think we should be leaving Melody like that?" I point to her, wrapped in bandages and her cloak. We discovered that she wore a white tank top and shorts with a light blue decoration along with her knee high socks and white sandals.

Bren shrugs and blinks. He looks over at me and raises an eyebrow.

"She doesn't have any belongings, so she probably sleeps like that all the time. When did you start worrying?" I scratch my head.

"I dunno. I guess it's good night, then." I lay down.

"Yeah. See you in the morning, bro." Bren starts to drift off into sleep. I stare at the ceiling and think about Melody. She had _some_ harsh childhood. Then I think about Lock, and just what kind of crazy adventure finding my dad is gonna be.

And I eventually fall asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Episode 2; Location: Abandoned Warehouse

Bren's POV

"Move it! Get those supplies into the truck!" A STORM troop yells. Melody and Chase peek over the box we've been hiding behind.

All 4 of us are in a STORM warehouse. Some troops came a while back and started packing some stuff. And we've been hiding here ever since.

"Okay, that's all sir." Another guy says. I can hear them climb into the black STORM van and speed off.

When we're sure the van is gone, Chase pops up.

"Well, let's start looking for anything we can use." Jinja soon follows, and Melody and I stand. I look around cautiously.

"Chase, tell me again, _why_ are we in a STORM warehouse when we're supposed to be _avoiding_ them?" I ask. Chase shrugs.

"Well, they'd never expect us to be on their own property. STORM's going to send troops all over the place except for here. So, it's safe." Jinja begins to stretch her arms and legs.

"Well, I guess that makes sense. In a 'Chase Suno' kind of way."

Both Jinja and Chase trail off to search, and Melody just stands there with her arms crossed.

"As far as I'm concerned, this is your problem. How did I get dragged into this?" I look at her and shrug.

"I dunno. Didn't you want to come with us anyway?" This morning, Melody woke up trying to leave. Jinja and Chase dragged her down. Chase asked if she could help track down his dad, and Melody agreed. So we all followed him to this warehouse.

Melody just sighs and walks past me, muttering something about this place not being safe. I try and forget that and start to search with the others, passing some cardboard boxes.

I suddenly stop to stare at a strange box made of _metal_, with a timer at 56 seconds and counting down.

I try not to freak out. "Guys! I think you need to see this!" The others come running.

"Found something, B?" Chase asks cheerfully. I point to the box, dreading the answer.

"Please tell me that's not a bomb. _Please_ tell me that's not a bomb!" Jinja shrugs.

"Okay. It's not a bomb." It stands at 18 seconds now. Chase begins to show some worry on his face.

"Guys, I think we better run!" All four of us turn and start heading out. Melody holds the door of the warehouse open, and Chase, Jinja, and I rush out.

We barely make it a safe distance away when the explosives go off. My head goes down, on account of someone pushing it.

It feels like a year before the sounds stop booming in my head and ears. Chase, Jinja, and Melody slowly rise to their knees. I stay on the ground, hugging my head.

"So they knew we were there…" Melody murmurs. I open my eyes and sit up.

"What do you mean, they knew we were there?" My glasses are covered in dirt. I clean them off with my shirt before putting them back on. Following everyone's gaze, I look up to see a sleek black van zoom away.

"Oh, they are so gonna get it! Who plants a bomb in a warehouse they don't use anymore?! That's a waste of explosives!" Jinja rants. I can tell she hasn't been listening to any of us.

"Whoa. Tense. STORM has got some tricks up their sleeve." Chase says, staring off into space.

"If you think that's bad, you should see STORM when they get serious. Not pretty." Melody says, looking around.

"Everyone still in one piece? Any injuries?" I look over myself to see that I'm fine. Chase and Melody seem okay, too. As for Jinja…

I look in her direction to see she's already running after the van, shouting at us.

"Come on! If we hurry, we can still catch 'em!" Chase and Melody quickly get up on their feet, dust themselves off, and hurry in pursuit.

I reluctantly stand and follow, wondering why I couldn't be best friends with someone a little more normal.

When I reach the others, Chase has sent out his giant monsuno. What did he name it? Lock.

Lock is scaring the troops inside the van away, and they run off the road into a forest. I watch them go, stifling a laugh.

Chase returns Lock to its core and grins at all of us.

"Well, that was easy. Let's see what stuff they have in the back." All 4 of us peek inside the double doors of the storage compartment the troops used to escape. Soon enough, Chase climbs on and starts shuffling around some papers.

"Chase! Are you insane? Have you not learned anything from the bomb-in-the-warehouse thing?!" The girls ignore me and look around, too. I sigh and follow in pursuit.

"Hey, guys! Look! Coretech Cores." Jinja calls from further in. Melody and I go to check while Chase keeps looking.

"But they're gray. What does that mean?" I ask, peering at one of the 3 cores closely. I pull out my Core Tablet and start looking it up.

"It means the core doesn't have a monsuno in it yet." Melody explains, while I confirm it on the tablet.

Jinja looks around some more, and picks up a storage box. It looks like a mini metal suitcase.

"What's in here, I wonder." She mutters. Melody takes it from her hands and examines it. Jinja and I watch, but I prepare myself to run if any explosions occur.

Finally, Melody hands it back to Jinja, smiling.

"It's safe. I can tell what's inside isn't the most important to STORM, but still. We might be able to use whatever it is." Jinja gently unlatches the box. I suck in my breath and give a sigh of relief when Jinja pulls out a blue core.

"It's been used, but I don't think the monsuno is in there right now." Jinja says, holding it up to the light for a better look.

"Keep it." I advise. Melody nods in agreement.

"Hey guys. I found some weird documents. Something about a monsuno named 'Quickforce'." We go over to Chase, and I take the cores.

"Well, these papers don't really say much…" Jinja trails off, staring at the words.

Before I can comment, the Core Tablet starts ringing from under my arm. The group turns to stare as I pull it out and tap the screen.

Much to my surprise, a hologram of Chase's dad appears. He starts talking.

"Quickforce is a Coretech monsuno I created with immense power. It was extremely disobedient to the point where I couldn't contain it in a core. So I invented a barrier that could contain a monsuno and be able to keep it from unspinning after 8 minutes, or turning into nothing. Soon, STORM tried to take advantage of my invention and use Quickforce for horrible experiments. After I banned them to do so, they kept Quickforce to themselves and proceeded in doing the experiments. Though I failed to save Quickforce, I hope someone else will." Jeredy disappears.

We all just stare for a little while before Melody says softly,

"I guess we're going to save Quickforce, then." Jinja blinks.

"Well, yeah. I mean, STORM's gone too far! Taking advantage of your dad like that!" Chase grins and gestures to the doors. We climb out.

"Then it's settled. All aboard! Next stop, STORM!" He clambers onto the driver's seat, only to be pushed aside by Jinja, who smirks.

"Step aside. _I_ want to drive this thing." Melody leads Chase to the back, and I sit in the front, grinning. Jinja is having trouble with the wires.

"Grrr! Why is this van so hard to hack?!" I pull her away, smirking.

"You tried and failed. Now let the _master_ handle this." I fiddle with the green, red, and blue wires for a bit. Jinja huffs, but scoots away. Ah, the sweet smell of victory.

Bren, 2. Jinja, 19. I have some catching up to do.

A few minutes later, the system comes to life.

"Drive 8 miles, then turn right." A GPS says in a techno voice. I grin.

"Sweet! GPS! What features does it have?" I reach for it, but Jinja slaps my hand away. I rub it and glare at her while she turns to the wheel.

"Save the technology curiosity for later, Bren. We have a building to crash."

Chase's POV

I try to think while Jinja drives the STORM van. Which is hard, considering that she's a very inexperienced driver, and keeps jolting left and right.

We've been driving for around 20 minutes. I'm worried about Bren, who's been looking green for a while. But Melody is the only one who doesn't seem affected in the least. Weird…

We finally make it up to the gates of the STORM building. A voice crackles on the speaker to Bren's right.

I don't bother to listen as the voice asks something about identification and number of rank or something like that. I raise my eyebrows when Bren stutters some numbers and letters, and Jinja slaps him.

Oddly enough, they let us in, saying we were an hour late and that we need to go straight to the repair station.

Thankfully, Jinja drove a bit slower and prevented herself from crashing into one of the walls and arousing suspicion.

Jinja screeches to a halt once we're inside the building. There are a few troops with guns to my right.

"Okay guys, here's the plan. I'll go distract those guys. You three go rescue Quickforce. Okay, let's get a move on!" I hastily try and open the door, knowing Jinja and Bren would stop me if they could.

"Are you sure it's safe to go alone? We're in STORM's turf now. You could get hurt!" Jinja says. I sigh while Bren takes her side. For once.

"Yeah, Chase. I mean, what would we do if you got hurt? This place is like a maze!" Melody looks at Jinja and Bren, then turns to me.

"Well, I think it would be safer if someone went with you. Two heads are better than one, after all." She says, eyeing the troops. They've turned to the van suspiciously, readying their weapons.

"Yeah… That _would_ be better." Jinja says with a smirk on her face. I roll my eyes and open the door, jumping out.

"Melody, you can go with him! You already have a monsuno!" I look back to see Jinja reaching back and pushing Melody behind me, and Bren slamming the door shut. The van races away, and Melody sighs.

I turn to the men in black, and can't help but smile thinking what I'm about to say.

"Hey, do you idiots know where the bathroom is? I got lost." Melody face palms herself and I grin.

"No? Okay. I guess I'll find it myself." I turn nonchalantly and start heading towards my left. In a flash, I grab Melody's wrist and yell, "Run!"

We race down the metallic hallways, with STORM following close behind. Melody looks back and quickly redirects herself to me.

"Chase, you said you wanted to go to the _bathroom_?! _Really_?!" I chuckle.

"What? It was funny!" I duck behind a corner, pulling Melody along with me. We hide from the men, those boots thunder down the hallways and pass us.

We both sigh in relief. Melody glares at me but closes her eyes.

"Chase Suno, you are something else."

"I know, right? I think we lost 'em." I stick my head out from our hiding spot and look both ways. The narrow walkway is clear. I gesture to Melody and we walk out.

"Now we can focus on saving Quickforce. But first, we should to meet up with-" I'm interrupted by a roaring noise. Before either of us can react, A black van rumbles by at top speed, barely missing us.

Both of us stare after it and I complete my sentence.

"…Jinja and Bren…"

Melody races after them, with me following behind, still partially stunned.

Jinja's POV

"I mean, can you say I'm _not_ the best driver in the world?" I ask Bren, who looks a little green and light headed, which I prefer over his usual stop-or-else-you're-gonna-kill-us panic attitude.

"Yes, yes I can." Bren barely manages to yelp over the screeching of gray metal walls against the polished finish outside the van.

I'm not exactly sure if we're heading in the right direction because the GPS isn't exactly equipped with in-building navigation. So I just followed my awesome instincts and I'm still winging it.

"You know, I'm surprised that STORM hasn't sent an army after us yet. With _your_ reckless driving, I'm sure everyone in the world would be in panic!" Bren shouts. I growl and glare at him over my shoulder.

"What did you just say to me?" Bren cowers and lets out a small "Eep!"

"N-nothing! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please don't kill me!" I turn my attention back to my great driving and smirk.

"Fine. Apology accepted." Bren gives me a relieved face and sits upright again. He blinks and looks out the window, eyes wide.

"What is it?" I ask curiously. Bren tries to look back, but the walls prevent him from having much of a view.

"I think I saw Chase and Melody! Down one of the hallways!" Suddenly, a siren starts blaring. Bren rubs his ears and grins. He holds up the Core Tablet in pride.

"I made a leak. Now the labs will all be clear." He smirks.

I swing the van around a corner to see a bunch of scientists in lab coats rushing out a door. I can't help but giggle a little at the panicked looks on their faces.

"Hey Bren, I think we should check in there. Okay, let's go!" Not even waiting for his reaction, I swerve and pull the van to a stop. I hop off with Bren following close behind.

I stare in awe at the lab we come into. It's filled with so many high tech devices!

"Whoa…" I murmur breathlessly. "STORM makes some _big_ money."

Bren points to the giant dome in the middle, where a giant bluish monsuno is trying to get out, clawing the force field.

"I'm guessing that's Quickforce." I pull a spare core out of my pocket.

"Yeah! It's mine!" I say. Bren glares at me.

"Hey! I want a monsuno by _my_ side too!" I sigh and roll my eyes.

"You know Bren, for a technology genius you're pretty dumb. To return a monsuno like _this_ to a core is going to take guts. Willpower. Skill. Can you honestly say you have any of that?" Bren looks down at his feet but shoots back up again.

"Well, not really, but _I_ want a monsuno! Rock paper scissors to see who gets it!" I nod confidently.

"Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!" I have rock. Bren has paper.

"Drat… You got lucky this time, Bren. But if you can't handle the pressure, I'm taking it." I thrust the core into his hand, cross my arms, and go off to the side of the room.

I glance at Bren one last time before putting my hands on a large red lever.

"Ready, Bren?" Bren gulps.

"Not really, but I can't think of a time when I will be, so… I guess." I pull the lever and the force field disappears.

Bren holds the core out and a sparkling blue light starts emanating from it. Quickforce pulls away and screeches. I cover my ears.

"Quickforce! I'm not trying to hurt you, I'm here to help you!" I watch in fascination at the tug of war. Who will win, it's impossible to see.

Bren seems to have a surge of strength and gives the final push.

"Quickforce! Return!" In a blue light even brighter than Melody or Chase's cores, Quickforce disappears. I can't help but sigh in relief.

I walk up to Bren, who's a little light on his feet. To wake him up, I punch his right shoulder.

"Ow! What was that for, Jinja? I caught Quickforce!" Bren snaps back into reality and starts rubbing his shoulder.

"For scaring me. Now let's go find Chase and Melody. I hate to think what could've happened to them."

Bren and I speed out of the lab. A giant chunk of the ceiling cracks and starts to fall onto Bren.

"Look out!" I dive and push him away as the ceiling gives. A rumbling sound comes from the ground and makes us jump.

Bren releases Quickforce using the broken chunk of the ceiling. It screeches and looks at Bren. Shakily, he climbs on.

"Jinja! I'm going to find Chase! Go find some kind of getaway car and meet us outside!" I nod briefly and dodge another block of metal.

"Okay! Hurry!" Quickforce bolts off, leaving me to find my way out of all the rubble.

"I should've gone with him." I grumble as I make my way through the gigantic mess.

Melody's POV

I can't help but watch in awe at Chase's battle with Jon Ace. Lock vs. Blackbullet, a giant yellow and black falcon.

When we first bumped into Jon Ace, Chase and I were trying to find Jinja and Bren. We eventually wandered outside and found none other than Jeredy's old assistant, Mr. Ace.

My opinion of him had never been high, and it sank lower by the second when he challenged Chase.

But for some odd reason, Chase held me back and proceeded fighting Blackbullet with Lock on his own.

Unfortunately, Lock was highly outclassed in speed, but landed a great attack from jumping into the air and landing on the giant bird, using some smoke as a cover.

But the battle is still turning in Ace's favor…

"I can't take this anymore." I mumble under my breath. I slip my core out of my pocket and look at it before turning my attention to Chase.

"Chase, are you finally going to come to your senses and let me help you?" Chase looks at me sheepishly.

"Uh, yeah. Help?" I smile lightly.

"I thought you'd never ask. Swiftswim, launch!" My core comes spinning out and hits some concrete rubble.

Swiftswim pops out and immediately gets hit by Blackbullet. The STORM monsuno grabs Swiftswim's tail and rams it into Lock, sending them both flying.

"Swiftswim!"

"Lock!" Our monsunos struggle back up, and Swiftswim wails. Lock roars confidently.

"Ready for some tag team play?" I'm both surprised and amused by Chase's question.

"I've always worked alone. But sure, why not? There's a first for everything."

Chase and I nod at each other and turn to our monsunos.

"Okay, Lock. Charge at it and send it to the sky!" Lock goes full force at Blackbullet, who dodges with ease. Lock screeches to a halt in a nick of time and turns around.

"Gotchya! Swiftswim, hit it with your tail!" Blackbullet gets hit and lands at Lock's feet. It struggles as Lock pins it down with huge paws.

"Blackbullet. Fly up." Ace says. Blackbullet breaks free from Lock, hits him to the ground, and flies into the sky.

"Swiftswim, hold it down!" Swiftswim tries to ram Blackbullet out of the sky with its tail, but the bird easily dodges and swerves repeatedly downward to cause damage to Lock and Swiftswim.

"Oh crag. _This_ really dampens my day…" Chase mutters, staring at Lock sympathetically.

"You know, we could really use some help right now." I say, jumping back to avoid some falling concrete from the walls. As if right on cue, I see a blue blur in the sky.

"Is that Quickforce?!" Chase yelps. I squint to see a familiar figure waving to us on the monsuno's back.

"Bren! Bren got Quickforce!" I shout. He lands and gives Chase a high five.

Jon Ace watches us warily. Suddenly, he pulls Blackbullet's core out of his pocket.

"Blackbullet. Return." All three of us watch in confusion as Blackbullet is called back. Jon Ace looks at us grimly and a soldier runs up from behind.

"Sir!" He salutes, and I watch curiously. "Commander Trey told me to give you this." I watch with wide eyes as Jon Ace takes a core from him.

_Riccoshot's_ core.

I instinctively rub my left shoulder. Chase and Bren stare at me curiously.

"Hey, Melody, you alright?" Bren asks. I give my most sincere smile and nod. But while Bren turns around and starts to glare at Jon, Chase gives me a dumbfounded look.

"So Jon Ace has another core, huh? What's in it, I wonder." I mumble a halfhearted reply.

"Riccoshot. It's a giant bug."

"Huh…?" Jon Ace grips Riccoshot's core tightly. In a swift motion, he spins it out towards us.

"Riccoshot! Launch!" Our eyes follow the yellow and black core until it clanks against one of Quickforce's claws.

The giant bug of a monsuno appears, screeching at us. I motion to Bren and Chase to follow me, and we step away from our monsunos.

"Guys, Riccoshot is Trey's monsuno. To counter it's defense and speed, we need a plan."

I whisper the plan into their ears, and they nod.

Riccoshot fires a few laser cannons at Lock. He dodges, and the blasts hit a few planes behind him that weren't already destroyed. Chase grimaces.

"Ouch. I feel bad for anyone who got caught in that." I face Swiftswim and yell out a command.

"Smash it to the ground!" Swiftswim brings its tail up and begins a wrestling match with Riccoshot's powerful jaws and armor.

"Lock, charge at it!" Swiftswim brings its tail away in a nick of time. Lock rams into Riccoshot, but is tossed aside.

Neither Jon Ace or Riccoshot notices when Bren sneaks up to Quickforce, hops on, and flies up. He gives us the signal from above, and I nod slightly.

"Chase!" I say, gesturing to the building. He nods, and we run into it, monsuno hot on our heels.

"Hey, creepy bug thing!" Chase yells tauntingly.

"Betchya can't get us in here!" Riccoshot scuttles in after us, swiveling its head in confusion from our absence.

Chase, Lock, Swiftswim and I escaped through another hole in the wall to meet up with Bren and Quickforce. Once we're there, Quickforce grabs onto Lock with its talons, and Swiftswim curls around one of Lock's legs.

Chase and I join Bren on Quickforce's back, and we fly up, making sure Jon doesn't see us. In a flash, Quickforce releases Lock, and Swiftswim uncurls.

Our monsuno slam into the ceiling, causing the whole building to shake. We call Swiftswim and Lock back into their respective cores just as the building collapses on Riccoshot.

Jon Ace holds out Riccoshot's core and the giant bug returns. I see Chase give Mr. Ace a troubled glance before he's just a dot on the ground.

A few minutes after, we land in a little clearing with cleanly cut green grass. Quickforce gets returned to its core, and we sit and wait for Jinja, whom Bren said would find us.

After 10 minutes, Chase raises his eyebrows at Bren.

"B, are you _sure_ Jinja was supposed to meet us here?" Bren looks dignified.

"Of course I'm sure! She was supposed to have a getaway car, too!" I roll my eyes.

"Even more a reason to be suspicious, if there was one. If she has a car, shouldn't she be here by now?" Bren gulps.

"Well, I… uh…" I hear a faint rumbling, and a beat up old car comes slowly towards us. Chase and Bren stare at it, while I look to see Jinja coming out the driver's seat.

I stand up and start walking towards her.

"Well, she's here. Let's just go already." That seems to snap the boys back into reality.

Chase chuckles and smirks lightly.

"Sweet wheels, Jin." Jinja growls and threatens to punch him in the face as Chase slips into the front and Bren and I occupy the back.

"Shut up, Suno. It was the only thing that wasn't blown up." She steers the car out of the clearing and we drive away, new monsuno in tow.


End file.
